Three employees of Orenburg gay bar sentenced to up to seven years in first case under Russia's 'LGBT extremism' law

The Central District Court of Orenburg sentenced three employees of the Pose bar in the first known criminal case in Russia under the law banning the 'international LGBT movement,' the court's press service said.

Art director Alexander Klimov, 23, was sentenced to two years and three months in a penal colony. Administrator Diana Kamilyanova, 30, received six years and three months. Bar owner Vyacheslav Khasanov, 37, was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony and ordered to pay more than one million rubles (about $10,000) as 'income from criminal activity.'

All three were convicted of organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization (parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). None of the convicted pleaded guilty.

According to the investigation, as reported by the outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti, Kamilyanova filmed performances by drag artists, while Klimov held meetings with performers and 'promoted LGBT relationships' on Telegram. During the arrest, the court claimed that Klimov and Kamilyanova, as people with 'non-traditional sexual orientation,' together with others who supported 'the views and activities of the banned international public association LGBT,' ensured the club's operation.

In March 2024, riot police raided the Pose bar. The Interior Ministry later said that police 'stopped the activities of a nightclub where representatives of a movement banned in the Russian Federation had gathered.' The arrest of the bar employees was preceded by a denunciation from a local nationalist organization, The Insider reported. Shortly after the raid, the three employees were sent to pretrial detention and later added to the list of extremists and terrorists.

The Supreme Court of Russia declared the non-existent 'international LGBT movement' an extremist organization and banned it on November 30, 2023, following a lawsuit by the Justice Ministry. In March 2024, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service added the 'movement' and its 'structural units' to the register of terrorist and extremist organizations, and the Justice Ministry included it in the list of banned and liquidated organizations.